


Flash Fanfiction - Episode 16 - Gotham's Gladiators

by Mindmarvel



Series: Flash Fanfic Introducing Mind Marvel [16]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Green Arrow - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 09:52:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 20,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13878420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mindmarvel/pseuds/Mindmarvel
Summary: (FLASH/ARROW/BATMAN CROSSOVER) (DOUBLE LENGTH STORY) After Ronnie, Martin and Caitlin go missing, Team Flash and Team Arrow are drawn to the city of Gotham City, where they locate an underground meta-human fight competition where they are forced to fight to the death. Introducing newer characters Sara Lance, Kara Danvers (Kara Zor-El) and an appearance from Batman/Bruce Wayne





	1. Chapter 1

"Wow, this place is…" Astrid searched for her words carefully, as she, Barry and Cisco walked through the dark cold streets of Gotham City.  
"Depressing? Old? Rough? Scary? Dark? Dirty? There's just a few words." Cisco said, but she remained quiet. The three of them were dressed for winter and the cold still got into their bones.

They heard someone scream from in the distance, but before Barry could go and investigate, his friends held him back as they saw the commotion. A cop had killed a man.  
"So, this is where Eddie… I mean, Malcom decided that he wanted to be a top detective, I can see why." Barry added.  
Astrid attempted to hide her anti-mind control bracelet into her pocket, but as she did so, someone knocked her and removed it from her hand.

"Hey!" she called out to the man. Within a heartbeat, Barry had her taken the bracelet back from the man and handed it to her. "er… Barry?" Cisco said, as he had turned to face his friends.

Barry heard the click of the gun, but before the man could shoot him, he turned around, took the gun and knocked the man to the ground, unconscious. "Maybe we should hand this in to the police station?" he suggested, as he picked up the pistol.  
"Or maybe…" Astrid said, taking it from him, "We should just hang on to it, in case we need it later." She placed the gun and bracelet into her purse and tucked her purse inside her jacket.

"Astrid, can you do your mind scan thing? See if you can locate Caitlin? Then, hopefully we won't overstay our welcome." Cisco said.  
"Weren't you the one who was excited about coming here? That you were keen on meeting your hero?" she argued.  
"Hey, I thought I was your hero," Barry joked.

"Dude… you saw the Batman at work… he quite literally has a gadget for everything… and he keeps them in his belt… In his belt! So, you just never know what he's going to bring out. But I think I'd rather see Batman away from here… So let's find Caitlin, Ronnie and Dr Stein and just go home… besides, did anyone else get a funny feeling about that bellboy at the hotel… My creep vibe was going through the roof!"

"I really wasn't too keen about doing my mind scan here… but you do make a good point."  
She opened her mind, sifting through the thoughts of the entire city, but as she heard them one by one, waves of extreme sympathy, sadness and anger came over her. They crippled her to her knees, so she tried to shake them off.

Her friends knelt down beside her as she wiped the tears from her face. She had closed the link. "Don't make me do that again!" she snapped.  
"I'm sorry… but at any chance did you read Cait…" Cisco began.

"No!" she shot back. Barry helped her to her feet and they continued to walk in silence.  
They were alerted to the sound of her phone, beeping in her pocket so she pulled it out and checked the message. "Well, it looks like someone knows we're here."  
The message was from an unknown number and it read, 'Welcome to Gotham, BW'.

They saw the headlights first and turned to see a limousine pull up beside them. The window to the back seat rolled down to reveal that Bruce Wayne's face was inside.  
Astrid and Barry stood back, while Cisco walked towards the window.  
"Cisco Ramon?" Bruce said. "Do you and your friends want a lift?"  
Cisco turned and stared at his friends. "You guys… Can we? Please?" he asked excitedly. He rubbed his hands with excitement, and a large grin spread across his face


	2. Chapter 2

"Alfred, would you mind getting our guests some refreshments?" Bruce asked, when Team Flash were gathered at Wayne manor.  
Alfred looked over at their guests. While Barry and Astrid had taken a seat on the brown leather couch, Cisco was marveling at the shelves filled with books, valuable objects and assortments like a kid in a candy store.

"Just water please, we won't be staying long. Cisco, don't touch anything that you can't afford to replace." Astrid said.  
"Just water for me too, thank you." Barry said, he knew that he was very hungry but the three of them were wasting time while they should be out looking for Caitlin.  
As Cisco reached for an item, it fell making a clatter. He quickly fixed it back into place before anyone noticed, and joined his friends on the brown couch.  
Bruce sat on the couch opposite the three of them and leant back comfortably, "If I had known the three of you would be in town, I would have thrown a party." He commented, as a dig.

"Heh, heh… because our party had a guy who was pretty much Central City's version of the Joker…" Cisco laughed. He looked at his friends who were not amused, so he buttoned his lips and shuffled nervously in his seat.

"We're actually looking for some friends of ours that have gone missing." Barry said as he leant forward and rubbed the back of his neck, nervously.  
"Friends? From Central City? Why would they…" Bruce began.

"Come here?" Astrid asked, "Good question… but regardless we haven't heard from any of them."  
"Why didn't you call the police? Besides, how do you know that they didn't just leave? People leave all the time." Bruce said calmly, as Alfred brought a cold glass jug of water, a bottle of scotch and four glasses.

Bruce poured himself a glass of scotch and Barry poured he, Astrid and Cisco some water.  
"Yeah, people do go missing all the time!" Astrid exclaimed, "But not these people… Stein, Ronnie and Caitlin are our friends. I supposed that you would understand that if you had friends!" Astrid drank her water and stood up ready to leave.

"Astrid…" Barry said, as he stood up with her in an attempt to calm her down.  
"Miss Sutherland…" Bruce said, as he too got to his feet, "You're welcome to stay in Gotham city, you and your friends are even welcome to stay at Wayne manor, as Gotham isn't exactly known for being like sunny Central City… But, unfortunately… if you're looking to find your friends… You may not find them…" Bruce's face fell to the floor. The two of them knew what he was trying to say.

"Thank you, but we're going to have to decline, it wont stop us from searching. Thank you for your hospitality." Barry said as he and Astrid left out the door. Cisco who was still sitting comfortably on the lounge looked over at Bruce and Alfred.  
"Cisco, let's go!" Astrid called out from the other room.

Cisco jumped to his feet, and politely said "goodbye" to Bruce and Alfred and left the room.  
Though the minute he stepped out pass the door, he realized that he was still holding his glass. So he popped his head back in and handed the glass to Alfred said, "I should give you this back," and left again.

They eventually reached their hotel rooms after being ripped off by their driver and found that their hotel rooms had been ransacked. Astrid had booked a room for herself and a double room for her friends.

"See, I told you that we shouldn't have trusted the bellboy." Cisco said, "we should have just stayed at Wayne manor."  
"Yeah, but you know Astrid. She really doesn't like that playboy bachelor…Plus we can't risk anyone finding out who we really are..." Barry replied, he did a thorough search of their hotel room, "…I'm surprised they didn't steal anything valuable… all your equipment is still there…"  
"Speak for yourself!" Cisco said angrily, "They took my comic books!"  
"I meant that… never mind." Barry replied, knowing that the argument was pointless.

"I'm not going to be sleeping tonight." Astrid announced as she walked into their room and sat on Barry's bed. "Even with the Flash here, this place seriously gives me the creeps. Why would they go snooping through my things and not take anything? Who knows what they were doing?"  
"Maybe it was kids…" Barry suggested, "they took Cisco's comic books."  
"Comic books?" Astrid asked in disbelief.

"Hey… they had real sentimental value… they took the first edition of…" Cisco protested.  
"You guys… let's just focus on where to start looking for Caitlin. I just hope that Frost has her wits about her. I can't imagine how Caitlin would survive in a place like this, without letting her take over." Barry said sadly.

Caitlin awoke on the cold dark concrete floor. Her mouth was gagged, her arms were cuffed behind her back and her feet were tied. she was frightened. She screamed out, but the cloth to her mouth only muffled her. She realized that her cuffs were made from Cisco grade materials, so it kept Frost at bay.  
She struggled to get to her feet, but when she managed to, she saw that she was being kept in what seemed like an old brick room, with a metal door. there was an old shabby bed to the right of her. She hobbled over to the door and pushed her weight into it and called out for help.

But nobody came. She jumped her way over to the bed and slipped on a piece of rubbish, banging her knees and chin hard on the floor. She felt sick to her stomach as the smell of urine engulfed her senses, but she managed to climb up and onto the bed. She couldn't feel her phone in her pocket and wondered where she had lost it, knowing that Cisco would have been able to track it, were it still in her pocket.

But even if she did have it with her, she had told her friends not to find her. But surely that wouldn't stop them, they would have to come for her. Or at least the Flash would. She knew that right now, hope was all that she had left.


	3. Chapter 3

By ten thirty that night, Cisco was sprawled out on his hotel bed using his laptop to find any sign of Firestorm or Caitlin Snow. He had connected all his equipment up as best as he could, considering he was not back at STAR Labs.

So far the most he had found were news articles and a video recording of Martin's speech.  
"Hey you guys! Check this out!" he called out to his friends as he played the video that clearly showed Martin giving his lecture on Firestorm, with Ronnie to the side of him. His friends gathered beside him to see Martin's press conference:

"Our project FIRESTORM not only changes the DNA make up of an individual but also of the way we look at science. Now, my friend Ronald here is giving me the hint that none of you want to hear an old man ramble on… so, Mr Raymond, if you will make your way to me, we can begin the demonstration…"

They watched on as Ronnie and Martin demonstrated the merging of Firestorm. Something that they themselves, had seen time and time again. But the demonstration astounded the crowds that Martin had been addressing. They roared in applause.  
"I just had a bad feeling…" Cisco said.

"I did too." Astrid agreed. When Barry spoke it, they knew that they were on the same track.  
"What if they didnt go missing… what if they were taken for what they can do?" Barry asked softly.  
Astrid took a breath, before she spoke… "If that's the case, maybe Caitlin wasn't targeted because she was looking for them but…"  
"Because she can turn into Frost." Cisco finished just as he received a vision.

He saw Caitlin cold, alone and scared in a darkened cell. She was gagged and tied and crying.  
Just as the vision disappeared he said, "don't worry, Cait. We will get you back… We will get you all back."  
As Cisco explained to his friends just what he had seen, Barry paced the room trying to establish any clues. Then something caught his attention, from outside the window.

"Hey Cisco!" he called out.  
"Yeah?"  
"Come and look at this." Barry said as he nodded towards the window. Cisco and Astrid joined him. To Cisco's delight he saw it. Off in the cloudy distance, was a dark bat against a circle of light in the dead of the night. The bat signal!

Barry raced over and retrieved his suit. "Barry! what are you doing? You can't just go out there! This isn't our city! It's the bat's city… You heard what Bruce said… This place is dangerous!" Astrid exclaimed.  
"Oh yes he can!" Cisco said excitedly, "Yes, this is totally happening and it is just so cool! Can you get me his autograph… and keep in contact! We'll have our communicators in place… Go Barry!" Cisco called out. Barry disappeared in an instant.

"If he gets hurt…" Astrid warned.  
"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's my fault…" he replied handing her a communicator, "But hey, if we help the bat on this one… That means he owes us one… Here's hoping he can help us save our friends."  
She prayed that he was right. They sat on the bed and kept their eyes glued to the screen, monitoring the Flash's activity.

Barry ran through the dark streets. He wanted to find the one crime that had required the assistance of the Batman. Along the way, he saw multiple muggings and attempted assaults which he took care of immediately.

Finally, he saw the silhouette of the vigilante that he had been looking for. He had almost missed it, as the man had blended into the darkness quite well. He was standing on a roof top ledge overlooking an alley way, just around the corner from some market stalls.

But as Barry had taken another quick glance… there was no mistake. It was most definitely a man dressed as a bat, wearing a cape.  
Barry looked down into the alley way. It was almost as if time had stopped to all those around, except for him.  
There was a group of people. Two were dressed like circus clowns; a man with a purple suit and a made-up face. He was assisted by a pretty girl dressed in black, white and red. Her hair was in two blonde pigtails.

The two of them were holding up a married couple. The husband and wife had been made to kneel on the floor facing each other, both of them had guns pointed at their heads.  
It was a very grueling scene, but Barry had an idea, and he knew that he had enough time to carry it out. He sped past one of the market stalls, buying two large flowers and leaving the money on the counter before anyone could see.

He ran back to the scene, took the weapons from the clown-like villains and replaced them with the flowers. He then took hold of the couple, bringing them both to safety and returned again. Though this time, he hid in the darkness with a drink in his hand, ready to watch as the situation unfolded.

As it did, he flinched at the shriek of the voice that came from the clown-like woman, "Oh Mr Jay! Look it's a pretty flower! But what happened to our hostages?"  
Barry watched as the Batman, who was quite confused by the scene apprehended the two villains and prepared to leave them for the police.  
As the Batman went to leave, Barry stood in his way. "They call me the Flash! I think we might have met back in Central City… Only you shot an ice grenade at me." He said, as he stretched his hand out to shake the hand of the Batman.

But Batman just said "Good, now get out of my city!" and went to bypass the speedster.  
"Hey! That's not very nice!" Barry said, as he went to follow him.

"Neither is this town… So go back to where you came from." The Batman went to shoot a grappling hook to one of the rooftop ledges to leave, but Barry caught it and held onto it… Even though it had hurt his hand in the process.

"Hey, my friends and I need your help!" Barry said, as he swapped the hook to his other hand and inspected the wounded one. He wanted to let out an expression of pain, though he refused to at that moment. He didn't want to look weak in front of the man.

"If you're friends are like you… and they're here… There is no hope for them." Batman said, he took the grappling hook from Barry, and bypassed him.  
"So, what? That's it? They're done for? You won't help us?" Barry called out.  
The Batman turned around briefly and said one word, "Falcone!"

As Barry tried to make sense of what he had just heard, the Batman used this time to disappear.  
"Okay, Cisco. Did you get that? I'm on my way back!" Cisco had heard the word loud and clear and had already begun searching.


	4. Chapter 4

Caitlin was unsure as to what time it was, or how long she had been laying in the disgusting room, but the moment that the door opened she sat up, instantly.  
A black silhouette entered the room. She couldn't see his face, but she could tell that he was very tall and very built. She made the sound of a muffled scream as he walked towards her, grabbed her hair, and dragged her from the bed.

She felt her body give out as she fell onto the floor. She cried and screamed in pain, but still they were only muffled noises. Nonetheless, the man said nothing. He dragged her from the room, by her hair. She couldn't walk as her feet were still bound, as were her arms. She feared for what was to come next as they left the room. The large metal door made a loud slam behind them. It made her flinch.

"So it turns out that Falcone isn't a word, but a name…" Cisco said as Barry returned back to the room.  
"A name?" Barry repeated.  
"Yeah… The name of a really rich family." Cisco added.  
"I knew that name sounded familiar…" Astrid said trying to place a face in her mind.  
"You know something that we don't?" Cisco asked her.

"My father once mentioned the name Carmine Falcone. He told me the whole family were never to be trusted. I think I only ever met him once at some party that we attended with the Queens… but that was about ten years ago."

"But that doesn't really give us much to go on." Barry commented. "We'll keep looking first thing in the morning. You guys should get some rest, as we'll have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. Astrid, you should stay here with us so we're all together. Take my bed, I'll stay on the couch and keep watch."

A few hours later, Astrid joined Barry on the couch. "I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to get back to sleep. Caitlin's out there and as much has it hurts, I've tried to get a reading on her. But I'm getting nothing. She doesn't even have her phone on her, Cisco tried tracking it already."  
They heard Cisco snoring loudly and laughed. "Well, at least he can sleep." Barry added.

"That man can sleep through anything… He could sleep through an apocalypse… he's always been that way. Hey, Barry, can I ask you something?" Astrid asked.  
"Yeah, ask me anything."

"Earlier today, back at STAR Labs, when you said all those things to Cisco, you said that I had some sort of destiny. What did you mean?"  
Barry stared at her, he had hoped that his friends had not remembered this part, for it had something to do with what DR Fate had told him. Barry tried to find the right words, to satisfy his friend's question without giving up his secret.

"I meant that I can see you doing something greater with your life. You're a CEO of your own empire with telepathic powers and you have the determination and strength to make the impossible happen. You brought the lot of us together, didn't take a 'no' from me and now look at us… We're team Flash. We're heroes!" He thought that he had answered that as perfectly as he could.

"Barry. We might be a team… but you're the Flash. You're the inspirational hero, not me. But thank you, I appreciate what you're trying to say. Though, the things you said about Cisco, they hurt me as well as they did him, and while there might be some truth… I believe that we make our own destinies. Nothing is set in stone and if Cisco and I…" she turned to look in the direction of where her friend was still sleeping, to ensure that they couldn't be overheard, "…well if destiny brings us together, then so be it. I know that I would lay down my life for the guy… as annoying as he can be… Just as I would for you and Caitlin."

These words haunted Barry. She had sacrificed her own life when that Kryptonian had gone to take the final blow that would have ended his life. However, while those events had not taken place in this timeline., they had still happened in his lifetime. He would always see her as a hero. "Astrid, I'm only the hero because you've inspired me to be one. You'll always be a hero to me. Seriously, you guys are the best friends a hero could ask for." Barry laughed.

Astrid nudged at Barry's arm with her elbow and he picked up on something that she had mentioned earlier. "You and Cisco, what happened between you today?" he asked her.  
"Something that I don't think will happen again. He was under the influence of the Rainbow Raider and I felt bad for not knowing sooner." She said, and he got the hint that she wanted to end the topic. But before they did, he had to ask, "Are you going to tell him?"

"Nope. It will just complicate things, and right now we have more important things to deal with… like how we're going to find Snow."  
"Right… any ideas?"  
"Not a single one…"  
The two of them continued to talk strategy, until the morning finally hit and a dim light shun through their window.  
"Hey, Cisco. You need to get up!" Barry called out to his still sleeping friend.  
"Dude, it's still night time!" Cisco groaned as he pulled the blanket up over his head.

"No… It's definitely morning… This city just seems so dark, even during the day." Barry replied, as he ripped the blankets from his friend.  
Astrid emerged from the bathroom, dressed and ready to go. "So what are we doing for breakfast?" she asked them.  
"We can either find a café… or a bar?" Barry suggested.  
"Bar!" Astrid and Cisco both said in unison.

"I guess I should have seen that coming. Though, I suppose that we can always listen out for any drunk rumors in relation to missing metas." Barry replied.  
"Precisely… Two birds… One stone!" Astrid agreed.  
The three of them managed to find the nicest looking bar, within walking distance, which Astrid finally agreed to enter. It ended up being a forty-five-minute walk from their hotel, and was surprisingly busy at that time of day. They ordered their breakfast with a round of drinks and sat in a booth to eat.

Astrid scanned the bar for thoughts and voices and then heard some that sounded very familiar. Then the three of them heard a laugh and they knew exactly who it was.  
They turned to see Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak and John Diggle sitting at the bar. It had been Felicity who had laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

Cisco climbed out from the booth to go and greet their friends, on his way he almost bumped into another patron who was carrying drinks. "Oops, Sorry… Hal." He said reading the man's name on his pilot's jacket. Cisco excused himself from the man and made his way over to their friends that were sitting at the bar. Barry and Astrid shook their heads softly, "I swear, we can't take him anywhere." Astrid commented.

By the bar, Oliver turned and gave her a smile and a subtle wave, she smiled and waved back.  
Suddenly, Felicity came darting over and hugged Astrid. "Oh my god! You guys are here! Thank god! This city is a little…" Felicity began.  
Barry finished her conversation. "Yeah, it's really something else… It reminds me of a darker version of Star City!"

"Yeah… I see it! That's exactly it…" Felicity realized, she leant over and gave Barry a hug, making him blush. "Hi Barry!" she said.  
"Hi, Felicity."  
Astrid got to her feet as Cisco, Oliver and John approached them, she gave Oliver a hug and invited them both to sit.

"So, tell me? What are you guys doing here? Wait, aren't there normally more of you?" Felicity asked them, as she took her place, next to Barry.  
"We're looking for Caitlin, Ronnie and DR Stein." Barry replied.  
"Wow, them too." Felicity sounded shocked.

"What do you mean them too? Ollie, who are you guys looking for?" Astrid asked. Oliver just stared back at her with a stern expression on his face.  
"I get the impression that maybe I shouldn't have said anything." Felicity said nervously as she noticed the tension between the two of them.  
Oliver looked over at Felicity and then back at Astrid. "We received a message that someone, that you and I both know, may not be dead… and that this is where we might find her."

"That we both know?" Astrid repeated, with concern in her voice "Who do you and I both know?"  
Oliver looked down at his hands, over at Cisco and then back at Astrid. "Sara Lance might be here."  
"No, Oliver. You shouldn't lie about things like that! There has to be some mistake. Sara died on your father's boat. I went to her funeral!"  
"That's what I thought too, Star. But if I managed to survive, maybe she did too."

"Ollie, no! That's just some cruel twisted joke! She's not alive. If she was, I'd know… I mean I'd have to know!" she drank the last of her drink and then swirled her straw around in her, now empty, glass.  
Barry knew that name. Sara Lance. He had seen her in the alternate reality, and she had been a loyal assassin to Astrid. But there must have been more to her, than he knew.  
"Who's Sara Lance?" he asked them.

"Dude… she's a ghost." Cisco said, mirroring Astrid's tone and finishing the last of his drink. "I don't think we ever told you how we all met, did we?"  
Barry thought back, "Yeah… you said high school, and Astrid and Oliver met through their parents. But you never mentioned a Sara Lance…"  
Cisco sighed and drank the final mouthful from his beer. "I'm going to get another round." He told them, "Don't start the story until I get back!"  
It was clear that John and Felicity were also in the dark about this story.

Astrid took a mouthful of her drink, fortunately Cisco had bought her a scotch, she needed something strong at that point. "Well, don't keep us all in suspense, who is this girl? And why does Oliver go quiet every time he hears the name?" Felicity asked.  
Astrid began her story, "So, before I met Cisco, I was best friends with this girl. Sara. My father wasn't the biggest fan of her, but she was awesome!"  
"She was a really bad influence on you, Star!" Oliver chimed in.

"You would know…" she added back, "But, I think we got each other into trouble a fair bit… I wasn't always as responsible as I am now! Don't you remember?" Oliver seemed to think back to their past. He remembered a few incidents that she was referring to.  
"Really?" Barry asked, finding this hard to believe.  
Cisco found himself smirking behind his drink.

"Well for one, if it weren't for her I never would have met Cisco. Sara and I were playing truth or dare in the school ground… I dared her to go and steal a teacher's hair piece and flush it down the toilet… The teacher had to wear a hat to class… and once the plumber found out what had actually clogged the toilet… well… it didn't go down too well… but then she dared me to kiss the new kid. I thought she had pointed at Cisco… it turned out, she had actually pointed to Dante, but she was fine with the alternative… Poor Cisco got the surprise of a life time when some random girl comes up and kisses him on his first day in front of everybody…"

"I dunno, it wasn't that bad. A lot of them were pretty jealous!" Cisco added, "Besides, we've been friends ever since…"  
"…But anyway, Sara and I used to get into a lot of trouble. I actually introduced her to Ollie. After Oliver and I broke up, Sara and her family moved to Star city. Then Oliver dated Laurel – Sara's older sister… along with every other girl that walked his way… Last I heard he and Sara took off on his father's boat together."  
"Wow." Barry replied, taking a mouthful of his drink, "I'm sorry… but that sounds nothing like you!" He laughed.

"If I hadn't have seen it with my own eyes… I wouldn't have believed it either. But the two of them, they were pretty close. It devastated her to find that Sara had died." Cisco replied.  
"Yeah, I actually blamed Oliver. I remember regretting even meeting him and introducing the two…" Astrid replied, "That's part of the reason I never came to visit when he first came back from the island. I actually hated you. It took me ages to get over it!" She said truthfully looking up at Oliver  
Oliver had already known this. It was one of his biggest regrets. He smiled at her comfortingly.

"Well, if she's here… we'll bring her home, along with the rest of them." John added, giving the rest of them an ounce of hope.  
"So, do you guys have any leads?" Barry asked their friends.  
"Nothing yet." Diggle replied, "we thought that coming here, might lead to some."  
Cisco nodded, "Us too. But we do have one lead… Given to us by Batman." He added with excitement.  
"Yeah?" Oliver asked.

"Falcone." Astrid told him. "Do you remember the name?"  
Oliver thought back to the parties that his father used to attend. "It sounds familiar. Weren't they some sort of Mafia family? Carmine and Louisa Falcone?"  
"They were the names that I remembered. But I never knew much about them."  
"So, I suppose this means that we're teaming up!" Felicity said excitedly.  
"A team up it is!" Barry agreed.

"Hey, no! we never decided on teaming up!" John replied.  
"Do we have a better option?" Astrid asked, "We're in a city infested with crime and we're going to need all the help we can get."  
"Speaking of help…" Cisco added. "Maybe we should ask Bruce for a little assistance. I mean, even if he isn't Batman… which, I'm not saying he's not… He still knows this town better than any of us."

"The man's right, Oliver." John added. "Mr Wayne would be our best advantage."  
"…Speak of the devil…" Astrid said as she checked her phone to see a message from Bruce. "He wants us to visit him again."  
"Well if you guys want to do that," Barry said, "I can check out Gotham City Police Department. I might have a few connections thanks to my work at CCPD."  
"Yes! Barry!" Felicity chimed in. "I'll go with you! We were planning on heading there anyway."  
John nodded, "Yeah… I too might have a couple of old contacts."

"Well, I'll head with Astrid and Cisco." Oliver said. "I have a few things to discuss with Bruce, myself."  
"Ok, well, we have our jobs. We'll meet later." Astrid replied, and they all left the bar in their separate directions.


	6. Chapter 6

As Barry, Felicity and John reached Gotham City Police Department, Barry remembered Bruce's words. '…Gotham isn't exactly known for being like sunny Central City.' Seeing its police department, he could see why. Barry ran a search of the entire facility through the computers and files before anyone could determine just what the gust of wind had been, and then returned back to Felicity and Diggle in the waiting room.

"Man, you make me so dizzy every time you do that." John said under his breath, "Did you find anything?"  
"There's a lot of covered up cases to do with the Falcones, but nothing that remotely comes close to what we're looking for." Barry replied.  
"Well, how about the two of you wait out here. I'm guessing that money will talk better in this situation… and Barry, don't let Felicity out of your sight for a minute!" John warned him, as he departed.

Barry and Felicity took a seat and watched the bustle that surrounded them.  
"Yeah, this place isn't corrupt at all…" Barry said with a hint of sarcasm, as he saw a shady pair of officers.  
"It's definitely not what you're used to, is it?" Felicity agreed, "Barry? Is everything ok with you? I mean even though we saw each other just last week… You've been very… distant."  
"Yeah, I'm fine… I guess, that I've just been trying to figure my head out lately. I mean, I told Iris how I felt about her… and she shut me down. So, I've been trying to focus on being the Flash and work and everything and…" Barry let his voice trail off.

"Oh Barry. I'm sorry to hear, for what it's worth… maybe it was for the best… I mean that in a good way. Because, right now you seem caught up in who you're becoming and maybe that's what you need to focus on. Look at you... I bet that if you and Iris got together you would be hiding your secret of who you really are from her, which let's face it, would cause a rift between the two of you and you would be faced with the decision to either tell her… or break it off with her to protect her… It's just like Oliver."  
"Wow, Felicity… that was brutal… but also… actually very true…" Barry said adding a laugh, at how right she was, "…But then what? Do I carry my life out, alone, just being the Flash, and that's it?"

Felicity shook her head, "No. You find someone who loves you for who you are, with your Flash abilities and all, and understands everything you're going through because they are right there with you… A real partner! Someone that you can be open and honest with."  
Barry noticed the moment between them, Felicity was right and sure enough the two of them definitely had that chemistry. Barry cupped Felicity's cheek in his hand, leant over and kissed her, just as she returned the kiss.

"Ahem!" They heard someone clearing their throat and jumped back to see John Diggle standing there facing them. The pair immediately jumped to their feet and awkwardly waited for him to speak.

"Right… I'm just going to pretend that I didn't just see that. Ahem! Anyway, I've arranged a couple of detectives to take the two of you out on a patrol to locate our missing friends. Barry, you will need to offer them your scientific expertise and, Felicity they will need your computer skills. If the two of you can do that… I promise not to tell Oliver what I just witnessed, because we both know that if he does hear about it… He will give you both the 'big-brother talk' of a lifetime."  
"Thanks Digs." Felicity replied a little embarrassed, "What are you going to do?"  
"What I was trained to do…" John replied as they were joined by two officers.

The two cops led Barry and Felicity out to a patrol car and they patrolled through the city. "So who is it that we're looking for, exactly?" The officer in the front passenger seat asked them.

"Well, you may have heard about a professor Stein, who founded the FIRESTORM project with a Ronnie Raymond. They're both missing, as is Ronnie's wife, Caitlin…" Barry explained. "The FIRESTORM man, yeah I remember seeing that." The officer who was driving, replied.  
They came to a vacant lot under a bridge and climbed out, "We heard reports that Dr Stein carried out a public Fireman demonstration right here," one of the officers, said pointing around at the area.

Barry resisted his temptation to correct the officer who had referred to his friend's project as 'fireman'. He spotted a small pile of ash and knelt down to scoop it up into the sample bag that he had been given. Suddenly, he felt the pain of an ice bullet strike him in the foot. He turned around immediately to see that one of the officers had Felicity held at gunpoint and that it had been the other officer who had shot him.

Barry's speed had been dampened, he attempted to reach for his phone from in his pocket but the man shot at him again, knocking his phone to the floor. "Don't even try it, freak! Or we'll shoot your girlfriend." the officer who had shot at him said.  
The officers cuffed Barry with a set of Cisco-grade handcuffs and did the same with Felicity. They threw the pair into the back of the patrol car.

"Well, that was a big waste of time!" Oliver said angrily as he walked back to the hotel with Astrid and Cisco. "I hope that the other guys had better luck."  
"What'd you expect? That Bruce would give us all the answers and we'd find them… and we'd find Sara?" Astrid said bitterly. "Why didn't you tell me? How long have you known that she might be alive?"

Oliver hesitated in answering.  
"How long, Oliver?"  
"A month!" he told her as a reaction.

"A month? Really? You had this information and you didn't think to tell me? You could have told me back in Central City, but you didn't. Why?"  
"Because… I didn't know how true it might be. I didn't want to get your hopes if we didn't find her… look what happened to your father! I wanted to spare you that burden."  
"I can handle myself just fine." She snapped at him.

"Astrid, you already admitted that you resented me for her death, do you know what I'd give just to take back what happened?" Oliver could tell that she was not listening and knew that the argument would be pointless. "Look, I'm going to go and find the others. Maybe you should take a break, before you let your emotions cloud your judgement."

Astrid wanted to argue with him, but she gave in and entered the hotel with Cisco, leaving Oliver out on the street. As Oliver walked down the street he spotted a man carrying a black umbrella and walking with a limp. He felt an urge to see if the man was ok, but decided against it and headed in the direction of his own hotel, instead.

As Astrid and Cisco sat on the lounge in the hotel room, she took a sip of her scotch. "I can't believe after all this time that Sara might still be alive!"  
"It's definitely a lot to swallow…" Cisco agreed, it was clear that he was battling with his own inner demons. "I lied…" he said, after a pause.  
"Lied about what? About Sara?"

"No, not about that… I mean about what happened between us… when I was under the Rainbow Raider's influence."  
"Oh…" Astrid said softly, swallowing another mouthful of her drink. "So you remember?"  
"Yeah, I remember everything…" he said under his breath.  
Astrid got to her feet, a little embarrassed and put her glass on the coffee table in front of them. "Cisco, this isn't the right time to discuss this..."

"Well, when will it be?" he asked as he stood up with her, "It's been thirteen years between us and it takes some color-blind meta-villain, to bring us together. Everything that I said I meant… and I know that, considering you weren't affected… that you meant it too. I have loved you since the first moment that I saw you… since that moment in the school yard."

"So, what are you suggesting? That we risk our friendship, the team and everything, for something that might not work out? You know how much you mean to me, Cisco, and I just can't lose you! This isn't one of your scripted movies where everybody gets their happy ending…"

"I get that, Astrid. I do… Our life deals with us going to work, running a large corporation and helping a red speedster save the city from criminals… it's a lot to deal with. But you mean a lot to me too. You always have and I mean it when I say it. Please, I'm asking you for once, to just throw logic out the window and go with how you feel."

She sat back down and rested her forehead in her hands, wiping away a few tears that had found their place just under her eyes. He sat down beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders. "You really are the heart of the group, Cisco." She said softly, giving him a smile. "I try to be." He replied as he returned the smile and stroked her cheek.  
Once again, she gave in. She leant over and kissed him, willing to throw away her logic and take him up on his offer.


	7. Chapter 7

"Your handlers have brought you all here for one reason and one reason only and that is to fight!" A man's voice spoke as Caitlin was dragged and dropped to the floor. She was in a very large room, with tiled flooring, along with approximately twenty other hostages.

She looked up at the man who had spoken. He was dressed in a neat black suit, he was clearly rich – as were the rest of the men and women, who stood with him.  
She looked around at the other hostages and noticed a young blonde girl, about ten years of age, among them. She looked very frightened to be there.

The large man continued to address his hostages, "Every single one of you have been recognized to have some remarkable ability that makes you stand out from the rest and will be your advantage against your competitors. But remember, if you attempt to use those abilities to escape, just remember you will not get very far… You have already been implanted with a chip, so if you go rogue, the chips will automatically self-destruct. You will be eliminated immediately. Your fights will be to the death and we will accept no less. 

We have multiple investors who pay good money to watch you compete… We won't let our pennies go to waste, will we? We look forward to seeing what you all can offer."  
Caitlin heard the young girl begin to cry and watched as a man came over and pick her up by the collar of her shirt. It was clearly her school uniform. "Listen, girl! One more peep out of you…" the man threatened.

Caitlin muffled a scream, trying to take the attention from the young girl. It had worked, the man threw the child to the floor and stepped over to Caitlin. He held a gun to her head, and she heard a click. But before he could pull the trigger, the man who was clearly in charge ordered him to remove his weapon. "That's not how we do things here…" he had said.  
The armed man obeyed and took his place along with the rest of the sharply dressed men and women.

"That's the emergency alert!" Cisco said as he climbed out of the bed, found his clothes and went to check his laptop. Astrid could hear her phone ringing so she ran to get dressed and answer it. "It's Diggle!" she called out.

"Thank god, you finally picked up!" John said from his end. "Are the rest of the guys with you?" she put him on speaker.  
"No? Oliver went back to your hotel two hours ago. It's just the two of us here." She replied, with concern in her tone.  
"Well, I haven't been able to reach any of them. Barry and Felicity went on a patrol with two officers and I haven't heard back since… GCPD are acting like nothing ever happened, and Oliver never returned."

Astrid's heart sank. "I'm tracing their phones now!" Cisco exclaimed as he started typing on his laptop as fast as he could. "I'm getting nothing! The signal keeps going dead!"  
"Is it possible that Ollie went rogue?" Astrid asked.  
"I wondered that too… but he would have left some kind of clue. There's nothing. I'm on my way to your hotel room now, I should be there in ten minutes."

"Barry, where are we?" Felicity asked, as she looked around at the filthy concrete room that they had been left in.  
"I'm not sure and I can't use my powers… sometimes, I really regret Cisco building these handcuffs. Do you remember being knocked out at some point?"  
"No, the last thing I remember is those officers putting us in the back of the patrol car. Why do you think they're after us, Barry?" Felicity asked as she pressed her back against the wall next to him.

"I'm not sure… I'm guessing that they have seen me use my abilities at some point. They're probably keeping Caitlin, Ronnie and Stein here… I think they drugged us. Do you have your phone? I think they might have taken them."

"No Barry, I don't. we need to warn the others… somehow… this whole city is corrupt!"  
"Shh… Do you hear that?" Barry asked, focusing his senses on the door. Someone was approaching and dangling a set of keys. Suddenly, the door opened letting the dim light shine through. Standing in the light was a largely built man.

"You can come with me!" he said pointing a gun at Barry. The man lifted Barry up by his wrists which were still firmly cuffed behind him. He held the gun to Barry's head as he led him out of the room.  
"Barry!" Felicity called out, in fear.

"Don't worry Felicity! We'll get out of this! I promise!" Barry called back to her as the large metal door slammed behind him.  
Felicity brought her knees in and rested her cheek on them as a few tears trickled down her cheeks, "Ollie!" She whispered out to the silence, "Please, find us!"


	8. Chapter 8

Bruce Wayne called Astrid, Cisco and John over to his manor with an offer of help.  
"So now you offer to help us… now that three more of our friends have been taken!" Astrid said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, but there is still not a lot that I can do, but I was able to contact a friend of mine from GCPD." Bruce said trying to comfort her.  
"We've already witnessed just how reliable Gotham city's cops are." Diggle said with sarcasm.

"I understand your reluctance, but I assure you that detective Gordon is a very trusted friend of the Wayne family. Alfred, can you bring him in for me?" Bruce asked of his butler.  
"Right away, Master Bruce." Alfred said and he left the room, returning with the detective himself.  
Astrid sat down on the lounge, frustrated. She felt as if she were banging her head up against a brick wall. Cisco sat beside her, and John approached the detective and shook his hand.

"Hi, my name is Detective James Gordon. Mr Wayne has already informed me of the predicament that your friends are in. Would the three of you mind telling me your side of the story?" Detective Gordon asked them, as he sat across from Astrid, Cisco and Diggle on the lounges.  
"Alfred and I will give you all some space." Bruce said as he excused himself and his butler.

"My friends and I were only just at GCPD this morning when the two of them went missing, so you can understand why I'm a little hesitant to trust someone who…" John began.  
"…who works for that same precinct. I understand. Do you have any idea why your friends may have been taken?" Gordon asked. He stared at Astrid, he knew that they were keeping some sort of secret.

She stared at the floor, as she read the detective's mind. He was indeed genuine to his word and he had certainly seen a lot and dealt with a lot of crime in Gotham City… but meta-humans, that would be an entirely separate situation all together. But she knew that in order to rescue her friends, they would need to be honest.  
"My friends and I… well, we have certain… capabilities…" she said choosing her words wisely. Cisco gave her a look of surprise. He was not expecting her to be this honest, so soon.

"…Capabilities, Miss Sutherland?" Detective Gordon repeated.  
"My friends can do certain things that makes them special… Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein… they were responsible for a project that they called FIRESTORM, which merges the DNA of two separate beings and creates one ultimate being…"

Detective Gordon finished, "I heard about that, they held a university lecture and a series of press conferences throughout the city. I see, and your other friends?"  
"DR Snow has this ability to turn into someone else entirely who can create projectiles of ice with her bare hands."  
"I can imagine that that might be related to the meteor shower that happened earlier this year… I've seen people with interesting abilities to say the least…" Det. Gordon replied truthfully. "Do you have any information that we might be able to go on? Or any leads?"

Cisco thought back to the Flash's meeting with the Batman, "the name Falcone might have come up… Our friend met Batman and he gave the name."  
"Your friend met the Batman?" Det. Gordon asked him, with a surprised look on his face.  
Cisco nodded. "Would you mind excusing me, so I can speak with Mr Wayne for a moment?"

Detective Gordon made his way out of the room and into the hall where Bruce and Alfred were waiting.  
"Their story sounds a little far-fetched." He said under his breath as he approached Bruce.  
"It does, but even I can vouch for its authenticity," Bruce replied.

"Miss Sutherland admitted that her friends have certain abilities, I don't think that it was easy for her to tell me that. One of them even claimed to have received the name 'Falcone' from the Batman. You know how this is going to look. Let alone, it isn't going to be easy to find meta-humans in this town, particularly if it turns out that Carmine Falcone is involved."

"But they clearly have nowhere else to turn, why else would they have returned? They're trusting us because they have no other choice." Alfred added.  
"I agree with Alfred, besides, if it turns out the Falcones are involved with these meta-humans, they will have advanced weaponry on their hands." Bruce added. "It won't bode well for Gotham City."

Alfred, Bruce and detective Gordon returned back to Astrid and her friends.  
"If we're going to do this," detective Gordon began, "I need you all to be entirely honest… Do any of you have any of these special abilities that might attract the attention of whoever has done this to your friends?"

Detective Gordon, John, Cisco and Astrid spoke strategy for hours until they finally had come up with a plan that was hopefully foolproof.  
Astrid walked into the bar, dressed in something that she would not normally be caught dead wearing. A short skirt, fishnets, knee-high black boots and a pink top that would barely fit a child. She wore small earrings that had trackers and a communicator built into them. She had also done her makeup with an emphasis on the black eyeliner and lipstick. The plan was to bring on as much attention as possible to play the part.

She could hear detective Gordon's doubts on sending her in alone, but Cisco had boasted about the time that she had brought down a 3ton telepathic ape using her mind alone. And had informed him that she was the best chance that they had at that point.  
The men and some of the women turned and looked at her as she made her way towards the bar and ordered a glass of wine.

"Hey darlin'" one man said as he approached her. "Are you in here lookin' for someone?"  
"I am actually… Carmine Falcone. I would appreciate if you ran along and got him for me, thank you…" she said with a hint of sarcasm.  
The man pulled a knife out on her and pressed it towards her neck. She barely flinched. With a sweet smile, she caused the man an ear splitting headache that brought him screaming to his knees. "Argh! What the hell is wrong with you?" he screamed as he dropped the knife.

She got to her feet and picked up the knife from the floor and placed it on to the bar. When she looked up, she saw that almost every patron in the bar had a gun pointed on her. Before they could pull the triggers, she manipulated them to point them on each other.

As she examined the knife she said to them in the same tone as earlier, "Bring me Falcone. Tell him that Robert Sutherland's daughter would like to meet with him."  
She allowed one man to break free from her mind control, to find him. Her head was hurting for focusing as hard as she was, though she knew that her life depended on her not breaking her concentration.

When Carmine finally arrived, she released the men from their mind control and greeted the man. As he pulled out a gun aimed at her, she felt a sudden surge of fear. But she managed to keep her composure. "Speak fast, what is that you want? I don't have the time to entertain the likes of you, even if you are the CEO of STAR Labs." he told her.  
Her head felt like it was splitting open, but she was able to grasp the images from his mind… Fortunately, they were just the ones that she needed to find her friends. The images shocked her to the core; meta-human fight contests to the death. Amongst the crowds of meta-humans, she caught a glimpse of her friend Caitlin. She needed to play ball with this man, in order to rescue her.

"Well, I've been hearing certain rumors about something that I would like to get behind."  
"…and what may I ask are these rumors that you are referring to, and why would a young lady such as yourself wish to be involved?"  
"I'm talking about your tournaments… It just so happens that I have money to invest and this particular activity interests me..."  
"…How much were you looking to invest?"

She wrote down a figure on a napkin at the bar and handed it to the man. Carmine handed it to one of his assistants and quietly spoke with the man. Astrid read what he was thinking… Her plan was failing. She could see it.  
She knew what his next step was, his men had seen her in action using her mind control. They wanted her as a contestant, not an investor.  
But just maybe this might work to her advantage. She sent Cisco a message using her telepathy. 'Cisco, don't send GCPD in after me… There's been a change of plans and I can handle myself.'

She could hear him try to argue with her but she wouldn't take no for an answer, 'It's the only way to get our friends back. If the police come in, I can't protect everyone… please! They will kill me in an instant. So please, Cisco, I'm needing you to trust me!'  
She could tell that he had given into her plan, so she closed off the mind link, just in time for Carmine to turn to her.

"Miss Sutherland, do you think I'm stupid? You as an investor? I would suspect that you have come in wired. Besides, with the mind control ability that you possess, you could be a very valuable asset. I look forward to seeing you in action."

"Would you think that I would be stupid enough to come in here wearing a wire?" she argued. She wasn't lying exactly as her earrings were in fact high tech communicator devices.  
"Search her!" Carmine instructed of his assistant. As Astrid was held against the wall she used her mind compulsion to freeze the rest of Carmine's men where they stood. As the assistant ran his hands up her leg, her immediate reaction was to turn around and to kick him backwards, in the face, which she did.

The man pulled out a gun on her, but before he had done so, she had already pointed her own pistol on him.  
"Very clever, child." Carmine said, clearly amused by her actions, "and the control that you have put my men into, is indeed very remarkable. But, you look like your faltering."  
His words rang true, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up her mind control. Her head was hurting. Just as she felt that she could no longer stand the pain, Carmine took the weapon from her hands and knocked her over the head with it.


	9. Chapter 9

A surge of anger and frustration fell over Cisco, Diggle and detective Gordon. "Why did you stop us?" Gordon questioned Cisco, angrily.  
"Do you think I like this change of plans?" Cisco snapped, as he kept his eyes on Astrid's tracker signal. "She made me trust her. I hate when she does that! But they clearly want her as a contestant, which means they aren't going to hurt her… yet. Plus, if we follow her signal, we can locate the rest of them. So frankly, we have no choice… we just need to be ready with all guns blazing when she gives the signal."  
"and what signal is that?" Diggle asked him.

"...My guess? something explosive! Look… she's moving!" Sure enough the purple dot which represented Astrid, was in fact moving.  
Caitlin was dragged out to the caged ring after being briefed that she would be allowed to use her powers in order to defend herself against her opponent. So far she had no idea who she was up against, but she was not prepared to kill someone, even to defend herself. Caitlin prided herself in always seeing the good in people. Whoever she was yet to face was more than likely just like her. Someone who had been taken away from their family to fight for these crooks.

As per custom, she was blindfolded and left in the center of the ring, but her handcuffs had been removed, as had the bindings around her feet. She had also been fed that day, not that she had touched a single morsel.

From the speakers around her, she could hear the commentators voice. "For our next round we have one neutral hero from Central City, word is she has a dual identity. Let's just hope that she brings out her feistier self… Let's hear it for Killer Frost!" There was a commotion within the crowd. Some people booed while others cheered.

Caitlin couldn't help but wonder how they knew this information about her, they had clearly been looking for her for a while now. Nonetheless, she listened for the commentator to declare just who she was up against. "…Our next contender comes all the way from the busy city of Metropolis and used to be known for her opinionated radio shows… let's hear it for Livewire!" Once again there was a bustle within the audience.

Caitlin waited for the commentator to give her permission to remove her blindfold, and she did so, once she was told. Livewire was a woman who was a little taller than Caitlin and she had long blonde hair. She seemed excited to be given the opportunity to use her powers. Once given the go ahead, she immediately struck Caitlin with a bolt of lightning which caused an instant electric shock.  
Caitlin could feel Frost trying to emerge. "No…" she called out to whoever was listening, "…I can't kill this girl! I won't!" She refused to let Frost make an appearance.

From his place in the side lines, Ronnie Raymond noticed Caitlin in the ring. "Martin! We need to do something! She shouldn't even be here!" he said to his friend.  
"Ronald. It is clear that she came searching for us and she was captured the same way we were. You know that we cannot meddle, besides, without the Firestorm matrix, we are powerless to do anything." DR Stein replied.

"Caitlin is not one to kill. She would rather be murdered than allow Frost to kill another person. You can't expect me to stand here and watch her die!" Ronnie demanded.  
Martin looked over at one of the handlers. He would be their only chance to take back the Firestorm Matrix. "Ronald, if you don't mind… Allow me to speak with our handler. Maybe I can convince him to let us fight this fight for Dr Snow." Ronnie nodded and so Martin left.

But as Ronnie stood by and watched another bolt of lightning strike his wife, he knew that she did not have much time left. He ran towards the caged ring and shook the bars violently, yelling the words "Caitlin! let me fight! Don't do this! Let me take the fight!" over the roaring crowd.

To his surprise, he was heard, and it grasped the attention of the commentator. "Folks, what is this? It seems that we have another contestant at the sidelines! Though he is just one half of the contestant we have come to know as Firestorm. Should we allow him to join the fight? It is clearly an easy kill!"

It was clear that Ronnie was not thinking clearly and as Caitlin saw him on the side of the ring, tears welled up in her eyes. "Ronnie!" She called out as she ran to him. They were separated by the metal bars but she could still hold his hands through the gaps. Livewire, stopped her attacks for the moment.  
"Caitlin, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here! You're going to get yourself killed!" Ronnie said with tears in his eyes.

"Ronnie, I received a message! I came to find you and they caught me. You can't meddle with this fight! You'll get yourself killed!" Caitlin cried, wishing that she could hold him.  
"Do you think that I can just watch you throw your life away? You need to turn into Frost! She will protect you. She can win this fight!"  
"Ronnie, you're asking me to kill another person! I can't do that! You know that I can't! I'd rather die than…"

"Caitlin! You and Frost are two different people! I know that now! Besides, I can't risk losing you again! You need to do this! You need to let her fight for you! I love you, Caitlin!"  
The commentator's voice interrupted their words, "It looks like for the first time in history that we have a third party fighting in this match! Let's give it up for Ronnie Raymond, whom I'm sure that without the other half of Firestorm will be of no match to either one of our beauties… anything for a little more bloodshed!"

As Caitlin heard the commentator's words and saw the guards allow Ronnie through, she tried to push Ronnie back out of the ring. "No, Ronnie! Don't do this! You're going to get yourself killed!" she cried through hard tears.

As Ronnie was moved into the center of the ring, he began dodging Livewire's lightning bolts. He ran to the left, to the right and then back and forth. "It's good to see you actually try…" Livewire commented, "…unlike your girlfriend."  
"…She's my wife, actually!" Ronnie declared as he tried to run at her in an attempt to tackle her and then retreat.  
"Oh what a pity… You're kinda hot!" Livewire remarked. Ronnie, eyed Caitlin for a brief second, but it was that exact second that cost him. Livewire shot a lightning bolt that struck him down immediately. His body fell and began jittering on the floor.

As Caitlin watched, she couldn't resist but to allow Frost to emerge. The pain of seeing the love of her life crippled on the floor this way was enough to bring out the Killer in her.  
"That is enough!" Frost yelled at the lightning queen. Before Livewire could turn, Frost let loose two consistent streams of Ice into the back of Livewire with both her hands. The streams lasted for a long time, but finally Livewire's arms fell and she collapsed to her feet.

Frost ran towards Ronnie and allowed Caitlin to take back her form. As Caitlin inspected the body of her love, the realization set in. Ronnie was dead. "No! Ronnie!" Caitlin yelled out between tears. She kissed him and felt the anger and sadness still surging through her veins. She sobbed over his body. "You can't be dead, Ronnie! We're supposed to have kids! We're supposed to grow old together! No Ronnie! Please wake up! I need you! I love you!"

Caitlin was interrupted by a couple of guards who rushed over and inspected Livewire's body. They signaled to the commentator, who spoke immediately. "It seems we have a winner! Let's hear it for our new contestant! One to really look out for… Frost!"  
As Caitlin heard his words she was shocked. "No, she isn't dead! I didn't kill her! There has to be some mistake!" she demanded.

Caitlin looked over at the body of the girl lying on the floor. But, there was no mistake. Livewire was dead, killed by her hands. As she was placed back into her cuffs and lead to the exits, she saw Martin from the sidelines. He too was in tears. "Martin! I'm sorry! Please, Forgive me!" Caitlin mouthed to him over the roaring crowd, though she was taken from the ring and escorted back to her cell, once again she was alone.


	10. Chapter 10

Detective Gordon, John and Cisco watched on the screen as Astrid's signal moved halfway across town.  
"I should have known! It looks like they are taking her to Arkham Asylum." Detective Gordon said.  
"An asylum? Why an asylum?" John Diggle asked.

"Well, ever since the Falcones took up ownership of the sanitarium a few years ago, that place has been an impenetrable force. No one gets in, and no one gets out. He poured a vast amount of money into the place to ensure that it stays that way." The detective explained.  
"So what you're saying is that we're on our own… that the job is impossible?" John Diggle asked.

Detective Gordon nodded. "I suppose that I can round up a few officers to help with an assault but it will take a little while to weed out the ones who are faithful to the Falcones.  
"So do it!" Cisco exclaimed. "If I have come to believe anything, it's that the impossible can sometimes be possible. And there is no way in hell that we are going to just sit back and not do anything. Even if I have to hunt down Batman himself!"

As night fell, Oliver had set a trap for the vigilante known as the Batman. He knew that the bat signal would be the best lure, and as a master of stealth himself, Oliver had planned everything out accordingly. He had kept all of his friends in the dark about his plans. Even his most trusted- John Diggle.

Oliver had seen Felicity and Barry's trackers disappear before his other friends had. He had made it seem like he had been kidnapped, knowing full well that John would go in to military mode to search for him. With the prospect of all of their friends missing, Oliver knew that Diggle, Astrid and Cisco would risk their lives to search for them. Astrid would be the best chance to get in to the facility, which would lead them to the location of Arkham Asylum.

But Oliver also knew that while she would find some way to rally her friends on the inside, he would need to find some way to get the authorities in. His best option was to trap the Batman, and force him to help. There was no alternative.

The Green Arrow watched from his location point in the darkness. Batman had come and had apprehended the villains, remarkably. Though, as he disappeared from Oliver's eyesight, Ollie heard the sound of the chains falling. He had caught the Batman in a similar trap as he had caught him in back in Central City. With a few tweaks.  
Oliver went to investigate, with his bow at the ready. As he crept into the dark alley, he looked around. The chains were sitting on the floor. To his dismay, the Batman had thwarted his attempt. His plan had failed.

"You tried to trap me, why?" The Batman spoke from behind him.  
Oliver spun around and released an arrow angrily at the vigilante. Batman caught it. He seemed to be just as fast as the Flash. Though Oliver knew that he wasn't.

Batman approached him and handed him back the arrow, which Oliver angrily accepted. "You're going to help me rescue my friends… They've been taken and we need your help. I wouldn't normally ask but…" The Green Arrow said through his disguised voice.  
Batman stared at the floor and then back at him. "You have no choice…I understand. But if I help, I need you to assure me… that you will all leave and will not return to Gotham City ever again!"

The Green Arrow nodded, "Even if I have to tie them to chairs so they never come back. You have my word!"  
The Batman was pleased with his answer.


	11. Chapter 11

Martin was brought cuffed to a room filled with people who were also wearing wrist restraints. Then the man closed the door behind him, locking him inside. "Hey! Let me out!" Martin called out but the door didnt open.

He looked around at the room of hostages. This room that he was in was some sort of day room with windows that allowed the light to come through. Alas, he saw a familiar face sitting with her back against the wall. He walked towards her, "Miss Smoak. It is so good to see another familiar face, despite our circumstances. But, where are we?" He asked as he sat down beside her.

"I'm guessing that we're in a room out of the way. None of us have any special powers so they see us as useless. But wait, what are you doing here?" she asked him puzzled.  
"It seems, my dear, that I have joined the ranks of being considered useless to them." Martin told her sadly.  
"No, you'd never be considered useless… but wouldn't Ronnie be with…" Felicity stopped speaking as she realized just what Martin was afraid to admit. The two of them sat quietly amidst the room of people who were just happy to be alive.

"I found Caitlin." DR Stein admitted after a while. "They made her bring out Frost, with what they had done to Ronnie. I need to ask, if you're here and she is here… where are the rest of our groups?"  
"Barry and I were kidnapped… I'm just hoping that the rest of them are still safe." Felicity said.  
"Wait! Barry is here?" Martin said in shock, "Of course he is… Well, my dear, let's just pray that the rest of them will come up with some sort of strategy to rescue us. Which I know they will. I have faith in them all!"

Felicity wished that she had held the professor's enthusiasm. Instead, the tears rolled down her cheeks freely and she rested her head on his shoulder, sobbing quietly.


	12. Chapter 12

Overnight, Barry had been subjected to a series of tests and then brought back to his cell where Felicity had been removed and he had been made to spend the night alone. His mind was always thinking of a way to escape, though unfortunately with the handcuffs in place no opportunity had presented itself just yet.

This morning he was brought to a large room with multiple other hostages, where he was dumped on the floor. But it was the next hostage that was brought in after him, that surprised him the most. It was Astrid, she was also cuffed. Her face was staring down at the floor and they had even gone the extra mile to gag her. But there was no mistake, it was definitely her. Even with the peculiar choice of wardrobe. Barry knew that by her choice in clothing, their friends were clearly up to something.

The man who had her restrained seemed to be the man in charge. He threw her to the floor violently and she landed in the middle of the group of hostages in embarrassment. She clambered to sit up, and saw Barry as she did so.

The man in charge began to address his hostages, telling them that they were all there for one purpose and one purpose only. That reason was to fight. Barry looked over at Astrid and noticed that the girl was wearing earrings. He had seen those before, back at STAR Labs on Cisco's work table. They were recording everything.

Barry smiled a subtle smile in her direction. On feeling his gaze, she looked over at him and then back at the man who was speaking. Barry knew that he needed to speak with her, but it seemed that this man Falcone, as he had addressed himself, was keeping a watchful eye on the girl. Barry doubted that he would get the chance to speak with her any time soon. Though, he would still try.

Once Falcone had finished giving his orders he ordered the men and women to take the fighters back to their rooms. Barry attempted to make his way towards his friend, but before he could get close enough, Falcone pointed a weapon in his direction. "Ensure that no one approaches," Falcone said pointedly, "She is the daughter of an old associate. People are paying a lot of money to see her die."

As the men held her so she couldn't move, Barry too was restrained. Though he was able to mouth two words to her, before he was escorted away. On receiving his message, Astrid smiled from under her gag. It was the perfect plan.  
Barry was led to a large arena by his handler and was pushed inside some sort of cage with the rest of the cuffed meta-humans. It was clear that they wanted him to watch the tournaments from this location.

As the tournament began Barry watched a grueling match between two meta-humans that were determined to fight for their own survival. After the first few minutes he couldn't help but run to the cage and call out. "Are you crazy? You're pitting people to fight to the death like gladiators!" though no one would listen to him.  
The other meta-humans in the cage with him seemed to feel the same way that he did. They were frightened. Particularly a young blonde girl who sat with her face in her arms crying.

When Barry saw her, he sat beside her and cradled the young girl in his arms. "It's ok." He told her. The child reminded him of when he had saved Astrid from the car accident. No child should be made to watch this barbaric activity.  
Once the match had finished, the child looked up at him. She mustn't have been older than ten years old. "How old are you?" he asked the child. She seemed to have trouble answering his question.

"Do you speak English?" he asked her.  
"Yes, I do." She told him.  
"Well, my name is Barry. What is yours?" Barry asked the child.

"My name is Kara. Those men stole me when my class and I came on an excursion. This planet is a cruel place." She told him.  
"This planet? What do you mean?" Barry asked her. But the child stopped talking. It was as if she would get into trouble if she elaborated. Barry didn't pester her to speak more. Instead he cradled her close, as best as he could with his hands in cuffs, hoping that this young child wouldn't be forced to fight anytime soon.

But then as the next match was about to begin, Barry gasped as the commentator introduced the fighters for the next match.  
"Tonight we have a surprise contestant who is also a very well-known public figure. She is the head of STAR Labs and the daughter of the late Robert Sutherland. You can imagine our surprise when we found that she has been harboring abilities of her own. Let's hear it for Astrid Sutherland! She will be battling one of our very favorite contestants. A woman who has been fighting with us for a year now… the Black Canary! Our betting is still open, so get your money in!"

The crowds grew into an overwhelming applause. Barry watched as his best friend was led to the arena in her cuffs. She had been blindfolded. The man who had led her out removed her cuffs and her gag as another contestant who Barry was certain was the Black Canary, was also led out. The two of them prepared for their battle with their blindfolds still covering their eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

Astrid removed her blindfold to face her opponent. Carmine had told her that he was excited about seeing what she had to offer, yet the commentator had publicly declared her name. If she were to use her mind scream and any obvious mind control in this situation and survive, people would know that she was a meta-human. She could not allow that to happen.

It would permanently alter her public profile, which she was not willing to risk. She would need to rely solely on her self-defense and the ability to read her opponent's thoughts to determine their next move.

She looked at her opponent, a blonde girl with a black mask covering her eyes and a black latex outfit. There was a familiarity about her. Was it possible that they had met before? Astrid probed the girl's thoughts, just as the commentator told them to begin their fight.

Black Canary began the fight with a high pitched scream that rang through Astrid's ears, disorientating her for a brief moment. But before the Canary could make her move, Astrid regained her composure and prepared for her opponent's first physical contact.

The woman ran at her, with two blades ready to strike. Astrid managed to dodge the move just in time. She ducked and swung her leg out, throwing her off guard. Though the girl didn't fall, she swung back, this time slicing Astrid's arm with her blade. Astrid winced in pain and before the girl could land a counter attack, she predicted the next move and grabbed the girl's arms and threw her to the floor, with her foot pressed towards the girl's neck.

She was face to face with her opponent and once again she felt the strong sensation that she knew the woman. "Astrid. Long time no see. You haven't changed a bit." The girl said. "Are you going to kill me?"

Astrid knew in an instant who it was. "Sara?" she gasped. She was still holding Sara by the wrists. She could remove the girl's swords at any moment.  
"I can't believe that it's you, either", Sara said, "Though, I can't submit. If one of us doesn't die, they will kill us, themselves!"

Astrid thought back to the words that Barry had mouthed to her. The perfect plan. It was worth a shot. Astrid sent images to Sara's mind. This was her only chance.  
She let go of Sara's wrists and removed her foot. Sara knocked her back onto the floor and brought her blade towards her abdomen. Astrid prayed that the attack wouldn't be fatal. She gasped as the sword sunk into her stomach. Her strength draining fast.

As Sara sat over her old friend's body, she removed the blade and then took off her mask and placed her hand on the wound that was bleeding out. "I'm sorry old friend." Sara said. "I had to."

The guards came out to examine Astrid's body. They believed it with every ounce of their entire being that she was dead. "We have a winner!" the commentator shouted to the crowds, "Another win for the Black Canary!"

As Barry stood by the bars overlooking what had happened, he crumbled to his feet. He couldn't believe that he had watched his friend die yet again. There was nothing about it that seemed true. Even as he watched the men lift her up and cart her away, it wouldn't sink in. "Astrid! No!" he yelled amongst the crowd, rattling the cages. He was taken back to the moment where she had sacrificed her life for him back in that alternate reality. How would he explain any of this to their friends? How would they get out of there?  
When Barry stood up and turned away, he saw the young girl standing behind him. She seemed to be offering him sympathy. With her hands still cuffed, she gave him a hug, which he accepted.

After a few moments, they were all led back to their individual cells. As Barry was led back to his own cell, he couldn't shake the misery that had overcome him. Everything just seemed so surreal. He had witnessed not once, but twice what seemed like the death of his best friend. Fate was a cruel thing. No… Fate was a cruel man!


	14. Chapter 14

Caitlin was led through the halls by her handler, she wondered where he was taking her. She knew that the matches were over for the morning, they would have more that night. They had allowed her to stay in her cell as she had been a crying mess that morning. But now she had been forced to leave her emotions back in the room and visit the world beyond her door.

As Caitlin looked around at her surroundings, she didn't understand how she didn't notice it sooner. They were in some large asylum. Though it clearly was no longer used for unstable patients. The Falcones who owned this facility had gone and invested the extra money to keep meta-humans locked down.

Suddenly, her handler moved her out of the way as a cadaver bed was wheeled past them. It made her sick to her stomach to know that there was a dead body under the sheet. But it was the conversation she heard between her handler and the orderly who was pushing the bed, that made her world crumble.  
"Who died this time?" her handler asked the orderly.

"She was a public icon. The CEO of STAR Labs. Carmine was delighted when it happened."  
"Well, that's what happens when you pit a newbie against the Black Canary." Her handler replied.

"Well, I should get this body down to the morgue…" the orderly said as he wheeled the bed away. Caitlin's handler had to push at her to make her come to her senses. "Oh I should have known, you're from Central City, aren't you? You would have known the snobby bitch." he mocked her. But Caitlin didn't bite. She quietly allowed herself to be led to the dayroom with many of the other restrained meta-humans. But then she saw someone whom she knew was anything but a meta-human. She was sitting next to Martin Stein. It was Felicity Smoak.

As her handler locked her into the room, closing the door behind her, she made her way to Martin and Felicity. She sat on the other side of Martin and said nothing. Dr Stein clearly understood how she was feeling.  
"Where are we?" Caitlin finally asked after a long silence.

"The dayroom." Felicity said in the same quiet tone. "At first it was only those without powers in here, but now they have been bringing everyone."  
"I supposed that we should get used to this place… no one's coming for us." Caitlin said.  
"What do you mean?" Martin asked her, "You must always have faith, Caitlin."

"I did have faith… but then… I saw them wheel Astrid on a bed towards the morgue…" Caitlin replied.  
Felicity's eyes grew wide. Her hope was disappearing slowly, as was Caitlin's.  
"I'm sure there is a little more to it than that." Martin said trying to comfort them, "I'm sure our friends have some sort of plan. I don't believe that we have been beaten yet."  
"Well Barry was caught. Astrid has been killed…" Felicity said.  
"Ronnie was killed…" Caitlin added.

"I apologize if I don't share the current pessimistic outlooks. But one thing that I have learnt in life is that everything will always turn out in the end. There are still many ways that this situation can unfold. Now, my dears… I do believe that we haven't yet heard from Oliver, I doubt that Astrid would have allowed Mr Ramon to venture into these walls… we also still have John Diggle… not to mention there is a vigilante who calls Gotham City his home. All is not yet lost as we will soon see." DR Stein told them, trying to encourage at least a spark of hope in the two.

Suddenly the door opened again and in walked the young girl from earlier. Caitlin got to her feet instantly and welcomed the child to sit with them. She seemed to be in shock by the matches that she had just witnessed and sat quietly with the group.  
Dr Stein encouraged the child to speak up, they all introduced themselves and even played a few games with her to lighten the mood. It wasn't long until their spirits had all been lifted, thanks to hearing the sweet laughter of the child.

After a while, DR Stein said, "You have my word, young lady. We will get you home."  
But it was as if those words had crippled the child. Tears instantly fell from her eyes.  
"I'm sorry child. I didn't mean to offend." He said.

Caitlin cradled her, as best as she could with their hands cuffed. "It will be alright. We promise." She told Kara.  
"It's not that," the child said after a few moments, "I have no home to go back to. My planet was destroyed, I was sent here to find my cousin… to protect him and I haven't been able to reach him. I was made to live with a family and they just don't understand me."

A crippling thought washed over Martin, Caitlin and Felicity. To any normal person, this child's story would have been brushed off as pure imagination. But after the things that they had witnessed in Smallville and after the meteor shower that had happened almost a year ago, this was nothing new.  
Caitlin thought back to the conversation that she and Astrid had had with the nice lady Martha Kent about her son. Martha had said that she felt her son had been 'brought by the shower'.

"Kara. What was your cousin's name?" Caitlin asked quietly.  
"Kal-El. He was only a baby when he was sent here… Our parents sent us here to protect us before our home planet, Krypton was destroyed." Kara spoke softly.


	15. Chapter 15

The mortician stitched up Astrid's abdomen, to stop the bleeding out. He was prepared to dispose of her body as he knew no other truth than that the body was labelled as deceased. So he removed her detonation chip.

This had been her plan all along. It had taken every ounce of her mind control to manipulate all those around her that she was in fact dead. The mortician had removed her earrings and had not yet restrained her. He had no need to, he was under her compulsion.

She had to compel herself to not feel the pain of her wound, particularly as the man stitched her up. As she had been lying still on the gurney, it had occurred to her, that she had healed quicker than any regular human. Though, not as fast as the Flash, of course.

But now she felt that she had enough strength to carry on with her task. Before she opened her eyes, she scanned the room around her. Judging by the smells, she was in a morgue. The only other mind belonged to the mortician and he was beginning to panic as he was slipping from her compulsion and could see her breathing.

She needed to compel him to let her go. Before she opened her eyes, she spoke. "You will let me out of here. You will give me your master key and forget that you ever saw me. You will continue to believe that I am dead and that you have already disposed of my body."

As she opened her eyes, she watched as the man sighed calmly. She sat up and he gave her the key, just as she had instructed of him. As she climbed from the bed, she saw her earrings resting beside the bed. She took them with her and left the morgue, locking the mortician inside.

As Astrid scanned the hallway, she was relieved to find that she was safe and alone. She put the earrings back in and tried to get a connection to her friends outside of the facility. The connection was dead, so she used her mind link to contact Cisco. He had been mourning over believing that she was dead. 'Cisco. I'm alive! I'm sorry I needed everyone to believe that I was dead. I'm safe, I have a master key and I'm no longer restrained. But to get everyone out of here will not be an easy feat. I'm going to need your help.'

She could hear him curse in Spanish, at the relief that she was alive, but he immediately got in to action. 'Astrid, we tried to send in the authorities when we thought you were killed. It didn't turn out very well. What do you need me to do? Wait did you seriously just Jedi-mind trick the whole lot of us? That is so not cool! You shouldn't be allowed to do that!'

'It worked though didn't it, so give me a break… and turn the connection to my earrings back on! I need you to talk me through where I'm going. I need blue prints… this facility is huge! And I don't want to waste my energy with my mind link.'

"Okay, gotcha!" Cisco said excitedly through his microphone. Astrid could hear the excitement of Diggle and detective Gordon in the background.  
"I haven't seen Ollie here, but I saw Barry. And I scanned Caitlin's mind on my way to the morgue. I also need to find Sara, Felicity, Martin and Ronnie!" Astrid said as she waited for him to give her directions.  
"Wait, Sara killed you!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Cisco, have you not listened to a word I've said? I needed her to make it seem obvious, but not actually kill me… I sent images to her mind before I carried out my plan… she just proved that she can still be trusted. I will not leave her behind!"

"Can the two of you just stop arguing for five minutes?" Diggle snapped, "Let's just get the mission over with! Astrid, we have the blueprints of the facility right here… you're underground. Follow the hallway until you reach the stairs… we still haven't heard from Oliver yet, but we'll keep searching."

"Did you hear that, Astrid? You got him mad!" Cisco said with a humored tone. But she ignored him and directed her conversation to Diggle. "Okay, Digs. I've reached the stairs… I'll scan the next floor before I go up, just a heads up… I'll be going silent, so no jokes, Cisco!"

"Alright… no more jokes… and no that wasn't a joke…" Cisco said, "I'm hacking into the cameras, now… It shouldn't be a problem for you to sneak through undetected, however if you want to unlock the facility you will need to do that yourself, there's no way of hacking into it remotely… and Astrid, in light of your little Jedi trick earlier… May the force be with you…"  
Astrid let off a slight laugh, "Thanks!" she said as she prepared herself to step through the door.

As Barry sat alone in his room, his handler brought him in a tray of what looked like a poor substitute for food. "To keep your energy up!" the man grumbled at him. "You're going to need it! Your first match is tonight!" Barry tried to convince him to let him go free, but he was laughed off and the man left, slamming the door behind him.

Barry ate the food on the tray, hungrily. He needed a plan. There was not an item around that could break the lock to the cuffs. Even if he could get free, he wouldn't be able to break out of the cell. But as he saw the metal of his bed frame, he figured that it was worth a shot. He crawled over to the bed frame and began rubbing his cuffs onto one of the metal legs.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it had most certainly been a while by the time his handler returned. "Speedy! You have two hours to prepare for your match. Be ready!"


	16. Chapter 16

As Martin, Felicity, Caitlin and their new young friend Kara sat in the dayroom at a table, Kara's handler entered the room. "Hey, Kid! Your first match will be in two hours! The men that found you said that your powers are remarkable. So we're pitting you against someone with super-fast abilities. I'm sure you'll be able to keep up with him."

As the man left, he slammed the door behind him and Kara began to cry again. "I don't want to hurt anybody!" she said through sobs.  
Felicity, Caitlin and Martin stared at each other. They knew that they would be made to watch this match. They were certain that the meta-human, that she would be made to face, would be their friend Barry Allen. Surely, Barry would not hurt a child. He would rather risk his own life.

But if neither one would be willing to fight, one of them would surely have their chips detonated by their handlers. "Miss Kara," Martin began, "Now, if my suspicions are correct, this could work in our favor. This fast man could in fact be a friend of ours. And if I know Barry..."  
"...Did you say the name Barry?" Kara asked, as she stopped crying.  
"I most certainly did. Why do you ask?"

"I might have met him. He was very sad when his friend died this morning. They sent him back to his room. He was very nice." She explained.  
"Yes, well that is Barry. He is a very nice young man. His power is speed… and I know that he would rather risk his own life than to hurt you. What I will ask of you is to do all in your power to delay the end of the battle."  
"Delay the battle?"  
"Yes, and then leave the rest in our hands. I'm sure our friends will come through in the end. We just need to hold on to hope." As if his words had real power, Martin had inspired his friends.

Suddenly, the door was ripped open by a very large and very strong man who entered the room. He ran to what must have been his girlfriend and tore her handcuffs from her wrists.  
As handlers began piling into the room to restrain him, he threw them off. One went to grab the remote to detonate his chip. Kara hid her face into Caitlin's shoulder to avoid seeing the detonation take place. But there was no detonation. The strong man's girlfriend had suddenly emerged from in front of the handler and stole the remote, smashing it to the floor.

Though, unfortunately for her, her handler had pressed her button. She started screaming at the top of her lungs, as blood began to emerge from her eyes, her nose and her mouth. Nobody watched as they knew what was to come next. The noise and after mess had explained what had happened. She had been terminated.  
The strong man grew into an unpredictable fury, as more handlers ran into the room. "don't shoot him!" One of the handlers yelled out "He's valuable! Get the tranq…" but before he could finish his sentence, the strong man had been shot and killed on impact.

Once they had ensured that the scene had been dealt with accordingly, the team of handlers began escorting everybody back to their rooms. As they tried to pry Kara from Caitlin, Kara tried to resist but Caitlin made her go. She didn't dare to defy the handlers after what they had seen.  
"Everything will be okay, Kara." Caitlin called out as she too was pushed to her own room.

"It's so hard to hold faith," Felicity said as she and Martin were escorted in the opposite direction, with the other hostages who had been categorized as 'useless'.  
Martin nodded, he too was slowly losing hope. He looked at his handler "I'm afraid to ask, sir… but where are we being taken?" His handler gave him a mocking smile, "where you will no longer take up space."

Astrid had managed to free a few hostages within the facility but she had not yet managed to find her friends. Unfortunately, some of the ones whom she had managed to free had become reckless and had gotten themselves killed, but a few had gone in search for the exits. She was unsure if they had found them.

Currently, everyone was being escorted to their rooms. They had not yet reached the hallway that she was in, so she hid in a storage cupboard and peered out the gap through the door. As she stood in the darkness, she thought that she saw Martin and Felicity amongst the group. So she waited until everyone had passed by. She scanned for any more thoughts in the hallway, and when she found that there were no more, she climbed out from her hiding spot and walked in the direction that the group had been led.  
"You guys. Where am I heading?" she asked her friends who were directing her through the facility.

"Astrid, this doesn't look good… go the other way!" Cisco said.  
"What? What do you mean?"  
"It looks like you're heading towards the heating plant… Why are you going there?" he asked her.  
"Because I thought I saw Martin and Felicity being led there."  
"Why would they lead them to the heating plant?" he wondered out loud.

But, as Astrid hid again, she watched as a group of handlers left the room after locking the door behind them. Screams began to emerge from in the room.  
"Oh my god, no!" she whispered softly, hoping that nobody could hear her.

She watched as the handlers disappeared down the hallway that she had just come down, and she ran towards the heating plant door, unlocking it immediately with her master key.  
As the door clicked open an instant wave of heat engulfed her. This room was practically a makeshift oven. People ran towards her, almost knocking her over, as they tried to escape from the sweltering heat. There were roughly thirty of them.

She used her mind control to calm them all down, she couldn't allow them to risk her plans. Besides, she had a use for all of them. They would need to unlock the security doors to let the authorities through. Amongst the crowd, she saw Felicity and Martin. They were clearly ecstatic that she had finally come.


	17. Chapter 17

Barry was led blindfolded to what he knew was the arena. He was anxious to see who he was up against, not to mention if he used his speed and people caught a glimpse of who he was, his cover would be blown. He promised himself, the minute his cuffs were removed, he would phase his entire body to become unrecognizable…and regardless of whom it was, he would keep running and hopefully they would just continue to miss him. No matter what, Barry would not kill his opponent, even if it killed him.

As he waited for his handler to remove his cuffs, he heard the commentator speak. "Ok folks, this match will be something a little different. Tonight to even up the match we will be removing our speedster's cuffs after we remove his blindfold. This will give his competitor an equal advantage." Barry felt disappointed that his idea had been taken from him. The commentator introduced him as simply just 'Barry from Central City' and then his opponent as 'Kara the Kryptonian.'

As Barry's blindfold was removed, he felt sick to his stomach, and then his cuffs were removed, as were hers. "Kara…" he gasped at the young child. The word Kryptonian chilled him to the bones. "No…"

She hesitated, she didn't want to hurt him, he knew it. The two just stood there, Barry didn't even phase as he thought he would. They must have been standing there for a while, for the commentator to speak up. "It seems that our contestants don't want to fight, folks. We're going to have to encourage them… Maybe the threat of the detonation button will do the trick…"

Kara's eyes grew wide, and her face pale. Just as she had heard the commentator speak, lasers shot forth from her eyes and aimed right at Barry. "Run, Barry… Like your friends said you would…" she said quietly.  
As if an alarm bell went off within him, Barry ran as fast as he could, circling the cage that they were in. But just as Kal-El had done in the alternate reality, she ran behind him, chasing him.

As Barry got faster and faster, he saw something from the corner of his eye. He felt that maybe he had seen something that wasn't actually there.  
But then as he continued to run, with the young girl directly behind him he turned to the inner of the circle. Two figures had descended from the rooftop and were in the very center of the red and yellow lightning vortex that he and Kara had created. He instantly recognized them both. The Green Arrow and Gotham City's caped crusader – the Batman.

On the outside of the vortex, time had merely stopped, which caused a little confusion with the newest arrivals, as for them time hadn't been altered in the slightest.  
"Barry? What's going on here? You're fighting little girls, now?" Oliver called out to him.  
"It's great to see you too, Ollie. We've been planted with chips that will be detonated if we don't fight. You need to take out the handlers. They have the remotes. Our handlers should be beside the ring. Hey, where did your friend go?" Barry asked, as he noticed that Batman had disappeared.

"Who knows with that guy? Don't worry, Barry. I'll find your handler for you. If I can get out of here that is!" Oliver said, looking around at the laser and lightning tornado that he was in.

Barry got the point and stopped running. But as he did, he remembered the laser beam that was being shot from the young child's eyes. She hit him when it was too late to realize. Barry fell to the floor unconscious.

Astrid emerged onto the arena, just as she saw Barry fall. She ran over to him and checked his pulse. It was very faint. She had seen the laser strike him from his head to his feet and the child collapse to hers at realizing what she had done.  
"Cisco! You're going to have to call the paramedics and GCPD immediately, Barry's hurt!" she called out.  
"Already on it, Skywalker… How did you go with the security system?"

Before Astrid could answer she heard the click of a gun and could feel the metal on the back of her head.  
She attempted to cause a mind scream only to find that it had not worked. She turned around to see the man who was standing behind her.  
"You should be dead, Miss Sutherland." Carmine Falcone told her. Astrid looked around her. The Batman and Oliver Queen were both busy fighting. They wouldn't be able to help her.

This man before her was wearing some sort of technology that was protecting him from her powers. "What can I say?" Astrid began, "I'm not that easy to kill. And if you shoot me, we have enough witnesses to send you to jail for a long time."

"Oh I don't intend on shooting you…" he said as he pulled out a button with a remote control attached to it. She wasn't sure whose chip that it controlled.  
Nonetheless, Astrid focused her mind on the handlers outside the ring. There were many of them. It took a lot of concentration, the last of her energy. But she managed to direct them. 'Free the fighters, disable their detonation chips!' She commanded.

It worked. She and Falcone watched as the fighters all had their restraints removed from outside the ring.  
But Falcone didn't move. "Stupid idea, girl." he said "One click off this button and either the girl could die… or your fast friend here."


	18. Chapter 18

"Drop it, Falcone…" Sara Lance entered the ring with her swords at the ready. "We've defeated your men, and we won't hesitate to do the same with you."  
As she stepped towards the man, Batman and the Green Arrow made their way towards them.

Falcone directed his attention on the young child who was still crying. "Hello child… This is your button… do you know what happens if I press it?" he asked her.  
"Is he bluffing, Star?" Oliver asked her.

"I don't know… He's wearing something to prevent me from using my powers… or else I would have fried his brain by now!" She replied.  
"Well, let's fix that!" Sara said as she prepared her sword. But as she said it, Kara had taken her place in front of the man. "Please! Don't kill him! I can't bear to see it anymore! Just as I have no choice but to fight the lot of you for him." Kara told them. She seemed to be flying at their eye level, which surprised them all.

"Sweetie, we're just trying to protect you." Astrid said, softly.  
"You can read minds, right? So please… read mine! I need you all to understand why you can't do it! Why you can't kill him!" the girl said.  
Astrid focused her mind. Her head hurt, but she did as she was asked.

She saw fear. Fear of an entire planet. Their world was dying. A baby was sent in a pod to the planet earth, to lead them. To make the world a better place. So that it might never be like their home. This girl before them was sent to protect the baby. The baby was her cousin. As their pods left their planet's atmosphere, they merely escaped the brutal explosion that became of their planet. Their families, their homes, everything entirely wiped out. Every single thing that they had come to know and love, simply vanished, never to be seen again.

These children came in search for not only a new home, but in search for a newfound hope that the people of this new world would not have to witness such destruction, such torment that they had.

As Astrid saw these images in the child's mind, she understood why the child needed to protect this man. The waves of anger and sorrow washed over her.  
"Kara, I…" she began, but she couldn't find the right words to say.

Oliver looked at her. "What did you see?" he asked her. Kara waited for her to explain. They could see that the meta-human fighters were making their way into the ring to act out their vengeance on Carmine.

"She's right," Astrid said as she shook her head sadly, "we can't kill this man. And we can't allow these other guys to kill him either. But he will pay for what he's done… and he will hand over the remote."

Within an instant, Kara had removed the remote from the man's hands. "Wow… she's fast!" Sara commented. "But do we really need to stop all these guys from killing him?" she asked, referring to the angry hostage meta-humans who were circling in on them.  
"Sorry, Sara. We're going to have to!" Oliver replied. "Are you ready, Star?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, Barry and Cisco are going to hate that they've missed this! Batman are you with us?" Astrid asked, looking over at the man in the bat suit.  
He looked over at the young child. "As long as when this is done… you all get the hell out of my city!"

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the crowd, that Astrid was relieved to see. "Frost!" she said excitedly.  
"Hey, I couldn't let you guys have all the fun, could I? But seriously? We're siding with the bad guy this time? Make up your minds!"

Astrid heard Cisco's voice through the communicators. "Alright… So, I'll just be sitting here… with my popcorn and my cameras… watching… all alone, while Diggle and detective Gordon are rounding up GCPD's officers… and you guys are fighting…with the Batman… You guys have all the fun!"  
"Sorry, Cisco… there's always next time…" Astrid said.  
"Aw… I know you're just trying to make me feel better… but for what it's worth… go kick some ass!"


	19. Chapter 19

While Kara flew Carmine to a cell and locked in him in faster than a speeding bullet, the rest of the group stayed behind to fight off the angry meta-humans.  
"So, what's the plan?" Sara called out, as she dodged an incoming fire ball from a woman who seemed to be made entirely of green fire.  
"Easy, we don't kill them! They're just angry and out for revenge!" Astrid called back, as she dodged a punch from a man.

His arm stretched longer than any regular human's would, and knocked Oliver in the process, "That's easier said than done, Star! What the hell is with the Rubber man over there?" He exclaimed as he shot an arrow that sunk into the man's stomach and bounced back out again just missing Batman.  
"It's why I want them out of my city!" Batman grumbled, as he battled two fighters at once, crippling them both to the ground.

Frost shot an ice blast into the woman that Sara was fighting, freezing the woman of green flame, in place. However, in moments, the ice shattered and the girl burst into a ball of fire again.

"There's just too many of them!" Astrid cried out. There were at least a hundred of them and their powers seemed to be too much. "Where's Kara?" she called out.  
"Last I saw she got Carmine out of the way!" Frost said as she tackled another opponent, this one who could turn invisible.  
"Don't tell me she high tailed and ran… flew?" Oliver asked, he shot an arrow in the leg of a man who had restrained Batman.

"It's okay! I'm back! It shouldn't be so hard now!" Kara declared as she arrived in the middle of them. "Half of them have their cuffs back on so they can't use their powers anymore!"  
"Okay, good!" Astrid said, "Can you get Barry to safety? He should have recovered by now! He doesn't seem to be heal…" The man who seemed to be made of rubber knocked her back, so she focused on his mind and used her mind scream, crippling him unconscious.

"Okay! Done! Barry's in the ambulance as we speak… the authorities are here too." Kara said.  
"Really? That was fast!" Sara said. They were beginning to get a little overwhelmed.  
"Star? Is it just me, or does the ground feel like it's moving?" Oliver called out, struggling to keep balance.

"I don't think it's just you, Robin Hood!" Batman called back. He shot a grappling hook at the roof and continued fighting while hanging from the rope.  
They looked over to see an African woman standing amongst the crowd, her palms faced to the ground. She was clearly causing an earth quake.  
Oliver shot an arrow at her, as she continued to make the ground shake, she raised one arm and with the other pointed at the arrow, snapping it in midair, without even touching it. "Er… Astrid!" Oliver said, his eyes open wide.

Astrid focused her mind on the woman. It took so much concentration, her head began to feel like it was splitting open, but it started to work. The woman brought her hands to her head and screamed. It was working, but she was fighting it. She made the ground crumble even harder, knocking fighters over, all around them.  
Astrid kept focusing, she knelt down on her knees and let out a scream amidst the pain in her head. But it was working, the ground stopped shaking, and Kara and Batman had managed to take down the last of them.

Soon enough GCPD came in and begun dealing with the unconscious bodies. "You might need to restrain them." Caitlin called out. She had taken back control.  
"Hey, where did the bat guy go and the man in the hood?" Kara asked, she was standing on solid ground again. The group looked around, both Batman and the Green Arrow had simply disappeared.

Detective Gordon approached Astrid, "We have Carmine in custody, along with his men. You guys have done well…"  
"How is Barry?" she asked, realizing that the detective hadn't even met him.  
"If you're talking about the guy that a Miss Felicity Smoak has escorted to the hospital, I don't think it looks good. He's in a coma. You should make your way over there as soon as you get a moment." Detective Gordon said sadly.

Astrid looked over at Kara, who was standing with Caitlin, "I will." she replied to the detective, "I'll ask for him to be transferred over as soon as possible…Hey, detective Gordon? That young girl over there… I understand that she would be considered missing, just as most of these other people would be… Would you mind if I return her to her home? I think she has developed a rapport with my friend over there. I don't wish to see her go through anymore trauma than she already has."

"It's a little off unorthodox, but I'm sure we can work something out. Do you intend on staying in Gotham City any longer?"  
"No offense but no… We intend on heading home very soon. I'll drop by the hospital now."  
"None taken. It was a pleasure to meet you all. We'll be in touch!" Detective Gordon said as he watched her leave.

Oliver Queen found Batman standing on a high roof top overlooking the darkened streets below. "Thanks for all your help tonight." Oliver said.  
"I kept up my end of the deal…" Batman replied, not turning to look at him.  
"Yeah you did. And I promise we will be gone the moment we get my friend transferred from your hospital… I'm actually here for another reason. It's to do with another friend of mine." Oliver said.

Batman said nothing, so Oliver continued, "My friend Cisco Ramon is convinced that you're Bruce Wayne…"  
"…So are a lot of people in this town… it doesn't mean that its true…"  
"…But this time it is… At first I thought it was just his imagination, but then I looked into it… he's right."  
Batman turned to him, he knew that Oliver had done an extensive search on him, this man was clearly good at his job.

"Bruce," Oliver continued, "You and I are alike in a lot of ways… except for one."  
He stared at Oliver, waiting for him to elaborate. "We both cling to the darkness hiding behind a mask and stopping villains… But you're alone, with no one but a butler by your side. While, I have those that I inspire and who inspire me, every day. It's the inspiration that makes a hero, not the fighting crime. You should remember that."

Bruce went to bypass Oliver. It was clear that he had acknowledged Oliver's words.  
Before Bruce could leave, he turned back to Oliver, who was now standing staring into the night.  
"Cisco Ramon, right?" Bruce asked.

Oliver didn't turn back around, "Cisco Ramon… I think he's your number one fan."  
Batman shook his head, shot his grappling hook to the ledge of a building across the street and swung off into the darkness, leaving Oliver alone.


	20. Chapter 20

That night, Barry was transferred to STAR Labs on the 97th floor, in Central City and after a few hours, Team Flash and Team Arrow, along with Martin, Sara Lance and Kara were gathered there too.

After having everyone's disabled chips removed, Caitlin offered to take Kara back to her house to get a good night sleep before they found her family, the next day. It had been noticed just how well Caitlin was holding up, after the death of Ronnie.

Martin had gone home to his wife for the night. Sara Lance had passed out on the spare bed in Caitlin's medical bay, while Oliver, Astrid, Diggle and Cisco sat at the computer desk watching the on call doctors monitor Barry's vitals. Felicity sat by Barry's bedside.

"It's getting late," Oliver said to Astrid. "I should probably get Felicity and Diggle back to Star City."  
"That's if Felicity will allow you to move her," Cisco commented, noting Felicity's bedside manner to the unconscious speedster.  
As Astrid and Oliver registered just what he was referring to, Diggle cleared his throat. "I should have probably mentioned sooner… them two might have had a moment." he admitted.  
"A moment?" Oliver asked, leading Diggle away for a full interrogation. "What do you mean a moment?"

"Barry and Felicity, huh?" Cisco said with a smile.  
"Yep, Barry and Felicity… and I'm sure that Barry's going to be fine. It's Barry. Just watch, he'll sleep it off and he'll be saving the city in the morning." Astrid replied.  
"Yep... that's our Barry! I still can't believe that you guys fought with Batman… I'm pretty jealous right now." He told her with a tone that sounded a little hurt, but very excited for his friends.

"Yeah, I know. But I promise, I'll make it up to you. But right now, I'm tired… I'm heading home."  
She headed towards the elevator doors, leaving Cisco sitting at his computer wondering if their time in Gotham City had just been a one-time only thing.  
As Astrid pressed the button to call the lift, she called out to him. "are you coming, Cisco?"  
As he realized just what she had meant, a large smile lit up his face. He jumped to his feet and followed her in an excited hurry.

As Barry lay in his coma, he saw intense images of the past, the present, the alternate dimension and what he felt was his future. His mind was travelling faster than his body could keep up. He couldn't make sense of what he was seeing, where he was or even how to return home. He needed his friends. Though as he screamed out in his mind, it was clear that none of them could hear him.  
Barry was stuck!


End file.
